The NBA season is just around the corner, and here we’ll bring you up to speed with changes that happened over the offseason, trades free agents and draft picks. We’ll also be highlighting what to expect from all 30 teams in the upcoming NBA season.
Atlanta Hawks:
After an eventful offseason the Hawks completed a blockbuster trade, acquiring all-star guard Dejunte Murray from San Antonio for Danilo Gallinari and three first round picks.
The Hawks look to have a deep playoff run after their 4-1 defeat against the Heat in the first round of the playoffs last year.
Boston Celtics:
The Celtics reinforced their backcourt with the addition of the 2017 rookie of the year Malcolm Brogdon, and added depth to their bench with experienced veteran and former All-star Blake Griffin.
Boston had chaotic offseason with coach Udoka’s suspension, but they have the assets as they’ll try to weather the storm and go back to the NBA finals again this year.
Brooklyn Nets:
A turbulent offseason for the Nets leaves them as they were last year after the James Harden Ben Simmons blockbuster trade. With Ben Simmons yet to play a regular season game for the Nets, Kyrie still unvaccinated and KD looking for other options.
At the end of the day whether they like it or not, they are stuck together, for now, and they’ll try to make it work.
KD missed a very big chunk of last year with a hamstring injury which left him out of action for 37 games.
Ben Simmons yet to play a regular season game in a Nets jersey, but he looks to have completed his rehab from his back surgery and hopefully he’ll be good to go for the start of the season.
Great news for Kyrie as the NBA is set to loosen their restrictions on non-vaccinated players which will allow him to play potentially every game this year.
The Nets will try to mesh all three All-stars with a supporting cast that can hold it’s own, if it all works out for them they could be a dangerous contender and a threat for the reigning champions.
Charlotte Hornets:
The Hornets took a huge blow with their forward, Miles Bridges, being out with legal issues. They’ll be forced to rely on 2021 rookie of the year, LaMelo Ball.
Having no key additions this year yet losing power forward/center Montrezl Harrell, they’ll look to develop their young core and build around LaMelo.
They’ll be in the mix battling for a play-in spot which will be a good step forward for them.
Chicago Bulls:
With a calm offseason for the Bulls with no key additions other than Center Andre Drummond and veteran point guard Goran Dragic, the Bulls will try to maintain last year’s intensity and learn from their playoff’s early exit against the Bucks.
They’re optimistic they’ll have Lonzo Ball back from injury soon. Their main problem last year was depth as they couldn’t handle the injuries they sustained (Lonzo Ball, Patrick Williams) and having only added Drummond and Goran in the summer, they’ll have to rely more on developing youngsters in Ayo Dosunmu, Javonte Green and Coby White who’s been struggling to find his rhythm.
Cleveland Cavaliers:
After last year’s tough play-in losses against the Nets and the Hawks, the Cavs made huge adjustments this offseason trading for Utah’s all-star guard Donovan Mitchell while sending away forward Lauri Markkanen and guard Collin Sexton.
The new look backcourt of Darius Garland and Donovan Mitchell will be intriguing to watch and extremely hard to defend, they will try and make a push for the playoffs helped by their 2nd year center Evan Mobley, forward Jarrett Allen and a healthy Caris Levert.
Dallas Mavericks:
The Mavs made a splash last year trading away the Unicorn Kristaps Porzingis to the Wizards for Davis Bertans and Spencer Dinwiddie which proved to be a great move, helping them reach the western conference final.
This offseason Dallas made another splash, trading for center Christian Wood but on the other hand, in free agency, they lost a high caliber player in Jalen Brunson who signed for the Knicks.
Doncic and the Mavs will try to replicate what they did last year and go back to the finals.
Denver Nuggets:
Despite last year’s injury blows, the Denver Nuggets made the playoffs behind Nikola Jokic’ MVP season.
This year they’ll come back stronger with Jamal Murray and Michael Porter Jr back from injuries.
This offseason was a bit quiet for the Nuggets but they made some moves that may have slipped under the radar, they acquired Kentavious Caldwell-Pope and Ish Smith from the Wizards for Will Barton and Monte Morris. They also signed Bruce Brown who was great last year in Brooklyn.
The Nuggets are going to be a serious threat in the west this year and might give the reigning champions a run for their money.
Detroit Pistons:
Another year of rebuild for the Pistons but this time they have their cornerstone in last year’s first pick, Cade Cunningham, who strated the year slow but eventually turned it around and showed everyone he could be the future of the team.
Not many major changes for the rebuilding pistons as they shed some veterans, trading Jeremi Grant to the Blazers for picks, and Kelly Olynyk and Saben Lee for Bojan Bogdanovic in another trade with Utah.
Adding a sharpshooter and scorer next to Cade Cunningham to help in his development.
They also drafted guard Jaden Ivey with their first round pick as he went 5th in the draft.
Jaden Ivey is a very athletic guard who developed his shooting and passing in the past year, we’ll see how Detroit will help his development next to Cunningham.
Golden State Warriors:
The reigning champions had a quiet offseason, with improving youngsters in Jonathan Kuminga and James Wiseman, the Warriors are looking better than ever and look to be favorites for the title this season.
The Warriors lost Gary Payton II and Otto Porter Jr. this summer. Gary Payton II was a key defender coming off the bench and helped the Warriors in their road to victory. But Golden State signed another defensive specialist to fill the gap, they signed Donte Divincenzo who had an important role in the Bucks success.
On paper, the Warriors are unstoppable, but recent altercation between Draymond Green and Jordan Poole in training could be a threat to their title hopes.
It’s up to coach Steve Kerr to make the right decisions moving forward to optimize their chances in going for back to back titles.
Houston Rockets:
The Rockets are in full blown rebuild mode and getting the right pieces around Jalen Green who’s going to be taking a larger role and who’ll try to step up his game and lead Houston’s rebuild.
Indiana Pacers:
Just like the Rockets, the Pacers are also in rebuild mode, last year they traded their star player Domantas Sabonis to the Kings for the young and talented guard, Tyrese Haliburton and sharpshooter Buddy Hield.
Indiana also traded Malcolm Brogdon to the Celtics for a 2023 first round pick and Aaron Nesmith.
Los Angeles Clippers:
The Clippers are emerging in the West, last year they were without both All-Stars, Kawhi and Paul George, and the “Other Guys” did a great job earning themselves a spot in the play-in tournament where they failed to make the playoffs.
This year with a healthy squad and the signing of point guard and former All-Star John Wall, the Clippers look like the team to beat in LA this year.
Los Angeles Lakers:
Lebron isn’t getting any younger and Lakers management isn’t helping him.
With Westbrook’s situation and trade rumors that amounted to nothing. In the end Westbrook is still a Laker and the team under new head coach Darvin Ham will try to make it work.
On paper, the Lakers are contenders with Anthony Davis still in his prime, Lebron and Westbrook still have something in the tank.
The Lakers also added defensive specialist Patrick Beverley to the team and they’ll have Kendrick Nunn back from injury, Nunn missed all of last season with a bone bruise that took longer than expected to recover.
All of that said, the Lakers have something to prove this year and the Lebron’s road to a 5th ring won’t be easy at all.
Memphis Grizzlies:
With little changes this offseason, the Grizzlies will aim to run it back and make a deeper playoff run this time around.
With Ja developing into a superstar, Desmond Bane and Dillon Brooks stepping up, the Grizzlies will be a joy to watch this season and a dark horse in the Western playoffs.
Miami Heat:
Miami lost some solid role players this offseason, Markieff Morris who signed with the Nets and PJ Tucker who signed with Philadelphia.
But the Heat still have a deep bench and the team could be unfazed by these losses, with Victor Oladipo coming back in form and young players like Caleb Martin, Max Struss and Omer Yurtseven developing, and Tyler Herro becoming the star Miami needs, the Heat will try to bounce back from last year’s heart breaking Eastern finals loss to the Celtics and make the finals.
Milwaukee Bucks:
No offseason moves worth mentioning for the Bucks as they’ll try to make it to the finals again.
Last year they were eliminated in heartbreaking fashion in a game 7 against the Celtics in the Easter Conference semis, this year Giannis and the team are poised to take revenge and try to win their second championship in 3 years.
Minnesota Timberwolves:
A blockbuster trade for the Wolves highlighted their offseason, bringing Center and 3 time defensive player of the year, Rudy Gobert.
He’ll be starting next to Karl-Anthony Towns in what would be the new NBA’s twin towers.
With D’Angelo Russell at point guard and a young and rising Anthony Edwards at the shooting guard position, don’t sleep on the Wolves this year.
They lost a bit of depth in the trade parting ways with Malik Beasley, Jarred Vanderbilt and Patrick Beverley but they brought in veterans in Bryn Forbes and Kyle Anderson.
They put themselves in a win now situation so they’ll look to make a deep playoff run this year.
New Orleans Pelicans:
Not many offseason moves worth mentioning, the Pelicans are hoping they could get a healthy Zion and an injury-free season.
Last year they took blow after blow with Ingram and CJ McCollum missing time but yet they managed to make the playoffs via play-in.
This year if all goes well look for them to push for a higher seed in the Western Conference playoffs.
New York Knicks:
Optimistically, Jalen Brunson would be their missing piece. They have what it takes but every year there is something missing.
Hopefully this year with the addition of Brunson and the development of RJ Barrett and Mitchell Robinson the Knicks will make their way back to the playoffs after losing 4-1 to the Hawks back in 2021.
Oklahoma City Thunder:
With their huge collection of draft picks, the Thunder acquired Chet Holmgren with the second pick in this year’s draft.
We all thought the tanking was over and that we’ll see a new Thunder team this year.
But, with number one prospect Victor Wembanyama making lots of noise and also losing Chet for the season with a right foot injury, suddenly tanking makes sense again.
And we’ll probably see from OKC a season similar to last season.
Orlando Magic:
With the first pick of the draft the Orlando Magic selected Paolo Banchero, but the Magic aren’t there yet.
Over the past 2 years they managed to stack up on young talents other teams passed up on like Bol Bol, Markelle Fultz and Moritz Wagner.
But they’ve been plagued with injuries throughout these past years having Fultz missing a large chunk of last season and Jonathan Isaac yet to see the floor since his left ACL tear two years ago.
The Magic have a lot of young talent to develop, they’re not there yet but they seem to be on the right track.
Philadelphia 76ers:
The Sixers are heading into the season with a couple of minor moves that could impact their team a lot.
The Sixers traded veteran sharpshooter Danny Green to the Grizzlies for a younger more athletic De’Anthony Melton.
They also signed free agent and defensive anchor PJ Tucker.
With Harden focused and Joel Embiid poised to win a championship in Philly, the Sixers find themselves this year among the top teams in the East hoping to make some noise this season.
Phoenix Suns:
The Sun looks to be setting on CP3’s career as he missed his chance at a championship, losing in the final against the Bucks back in 2021.
With locker room trouble between coach Monty Williams and center Deandre Ayton the Suns find themselves in trouble this year.
They’ll hope to resolve all of that before the season starts if they are hoping for another shot at a championship before Chris Paul’s window closes.
Portland Trail blazers:
The Blazers got Damion Lillard some scoring help by trading for Jerami Grant, they also found themselves a gem in shooting guard Anfernee Simmons who played a huge role last year when Lillard was injured.
On paper the Blazers are a decent team but it all comes down to injuries and how long can they stay healthy. With Jusuf Nurkic and what he brings to the team, they’ll need him healthy for a long time in order to make some improvement this year.
Sacramento Kings:
Trading for Domantas Sabonis last year meant that the Kings are seriously trying to stop their 16 year long playoff drought, this offseason they acquired Kevin Huerter from Atlanta in exchange for Maurice Harkless and Justin Holiday. And with their new rookie Keegan Murray playing very well in preseason the Kings might have a shot at making the playoffs for the first time in 16 years.
San Antonio Spurs:
Dealing Dejunte Murray to the Hawks for 3 first round picks and Danilo Gallinari meant that the Spurs are in full rebuild mode.
They’ll enter the race to Victor Wembanyama in next year’s draft. So they’ll likely find themselves at the bottom of the table at the end of the season.
Toronto Raptors:
No offseason moves worth mentioning for the Raptors, they’ll be hoping to have Pascal Siakam healthy this year and with rookie of the year winner Scottie Barnes stepping up his game, the Raptors will try to replicate their 2019 championship season.
Utah Jazz:
The Jazz blew up the team over the offseason, trading both their star players.
Rudy Gobert to the Wolves in exchange for Patrick Beverley, Jarred Vanderbilt, Walker Kessler and a total of 4 first round picks. They also moved Beverley to the Lakers for Talen Horton-Tucker and Stanley Johnson.
As well as trading Donovan Mitchell to the Cavs for Collin Sexton, Lauri Markkanen and 3 first round picks.
In summary the Jazz are stacking up on picks and young talent to help their rebuilding attempt.
Washington Wizards:
After they whole John Wall deal, the Wizards are in a bit of a pickle. Trying to overcome it doesn’t seem to be easy, last offseason they signed point guard Spencer Dinwiddie and later on in the season traded him and Davis Bertans to the Mavs for the Unicorn Kristaps Porzingis.
The Wizards also have an aging Bradley Beal who’s thirsty for winning but they couldn’t figure out who to bring into the mix to help him win and now they’re in a tough situation having KP and Beal surrounded by talented youngsters who need development.
This offseason, they traded Kentavious Caldwell-Pope to the Nuggets for veteran Will Barton hoping he could help them make a playoff appearance this year.
